🤔 *Does God give everyone a measure of faith or does he offer faith in the form of a free will choice?*🤔 by Minsiter Gail Adams

(Proverbs 23:23) - Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

“As children of God, we should never say, “I don’t have any faith.” To say this is to say that God is a liar because His Word already tells us that “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith”. (Joseph Prince: START USING YOUR MEASURE OF FAITH)

Try telling an atheist,”Though you may not believe in God, he has given even you a measure of faith” and see what happens. 😔 It would get ugly. 😔

The word “faith” is found 242 times in the bible. Faith is defined as complete trust in or to believe in someone or something. So how does one acquire faith? One belief is “that God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). This perception has fueled some controversy as it is not adopted by all Christianity. Those who oppose it, believe faith is acquired through choice.

🤔 *Does God give everyone a measure of faith or does he offer faith in the form of a free will choice?*🤔

When I do bible studies to gain understanding or to make sure I am quoting the Bible correctly to others I do two things: First, I read verses and stories within their context. Second, I keep in mind that while God does speak through men, not every single word in the Bible is spoken by God or is from God * (hint: those giving personal opinions and false prophets). Therefore, I determine whether a “command, quote, or belief is coming from God or man to rightly divide the word.

Reading Romans 12, Paul clearly distinguishes to readers in verse 1 and 3 who is speaking. He begins his exhortation, in verse 1 saying, “I beseech you” brethren which is the same as saying, “I encourage you brethren and in verse 3, he continues his exhortation saying, ”For I say,”. Let me tell you, I have the utmost respect for Paul and his ability to distinguish to readers when he is speaking, demonstrated by the use of the pronoun “I”. The word “I” is a possessive pronoun showing ownership. The verses below are more examples of Paul taking ownership of his commands, opinions, or sayings:

(1) 1 Cor. 7:12, "But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away."

(2) 1 Cor. 7:25, "Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy."

(3) 1 Timothy 2:11-12, Let a woman learn in silence and total submission, I do not permit a woman to teach nor to exercise authority over a man, but to be in silence.

We all can agree, where Paul uses the possessive pronoun I, he leaves no doubt that the command, quote or opinion is coming from him and not God which the Bible accurately records.

To determine whether God gave every man a measure of faith we need to look to the Gospel of Jesus. During his ministry, Jesus made it clear that he was the deliver of the doctrine not the originator of the doctrine. "My teaching is not my own. (John 7:16)* As teachers and preachers of the word, it is understood or at least I would like to be believe it is, that we do not place *our or others opinions, quotes, or commands before or above our Creator's Word. This includes what is written in the Epistles or Letters of the Apostles*. Please, keep that in mind while reading this message.

Jesus in the Gospel taught that we get faith when we do something. He reveals those things in Matthew 7:24 saying, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: Christ presents faith as a choice saying whosoever.

Some say the measure of faith was given to help man use their various gifts to do the works of God. Read what Jesus said when he was asked about doing works? “Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus replied, “This is the work of God: to believe in the One He has sent” (John 6:29). As Christians we all know when we read the words To believe it signals that a choice must be made.

Our Lord presented the gospel to others to accept or reject without his interference by free will faith. This fundamental truth is demonstrated when he sent his disciples out saying, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet” (Matthew 10:14). Jesus consistently taught that the establishment, progress, and strength of faith comes by way of hearing his teachings, and we show evidence of that faith when we do his word.

Believing that all men were given a measure of faith from God is contrary to Scripture. Why? Because God himself told us what he place in man and woman when he created them, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7, 21-22). *God does not directly or indirectly hint to readers he advanced man some faith prior to man believing in Him or to help man believe in Him.

From the start, God gave every man the right to choose, and it has never been overturned with him giving a measure of faith to every man to believe in him or to do his works. Every man must make a decision to have faith or not have faith in God. Jesus told Nicodemus, in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. No firmer phrase than “whosoever believes” could have been chosen to signify that God is offering salvation freely with a condition that is, one must make up their own mind to have faith or not have faith in Him. If God had given man a measure of faith salvation would not have been offered in the form of a choice?

God is not a puppeteer. According to God "a measure of faith" is never the issue, whether you have faith and exercise it or not is his concern as seen in these passages of scriptures: (Matthew 14:31) - Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mark 4:40) - He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Matthew 8:26) - And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm (Mark 16:16). Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

In regards to where Paul say God gave every man a measure of faith, we should accept the possessive use of the pronoun I to indicate that what he gave was not “God’s command” but rather the sincere holy “opinion of one” who was striving to be faithful? I love Paul and appreciate his letters and when I reference something from his or the other Apostles letters I make sure what they say is in agreement with Jesus teachings because God does not contradict himself.

To those who oppose what this study reveals, please consider that the, “Revealing of Truth Requires Opposing Error.” Ask yourself this question: Should we tone down our opposition to error and seek unity based on compromise with teachings, opinions, and quotes used out of context by any man that are contrary to what Jesus taught? Answering for me, no we should not. (Proverbs 23:23) - Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. Truth must be acquired at all costs. Once obtained truth must not be surrender for any price. The reason I care about teaching truth is because I want to please God by following His will and helping other people do the same. If we do not preach truth over error than we will be the blind leading the blind.

My prayer always is that we continue to grow in grace, truth, wisdom and walk in love towards one another. Help others benefit from this truth by sharing this message. God bless you.

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Copyright: Pamela Johnson, Beaute Naturelle and Gail Adams